#but I genuinely would not be surprised to learn it was

[sapphiresonstrings]

I think people think about LitRPGs backwards. It's not that the LitRPG formula makes bad stories palatable - it's the opposite. The LitRPG formula isn't appealing at all. The structure of a LitRPG guides writers to write stories that are legitimately better on a structural level than what they could otherwise write. LitRPG has a reputation for terrible writing because writers who are extremely bad can use the structure of LitRPG to write stories that actually work, which end up getting talked about. The same writers writing romance novels would never be talked about because they would be unreadable.

Consider Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, an all-around high quality book written by a talented author. Something that has always bothered me about Chamber of Secrets is the climax, Harry's fight against the Basilisk.

We have not been given any indication up to this point that Harry is capable of killing a Basilisk with a sword. In fact, the only skills Harry has been learning up to this point revolve around magic, which he does not use in the climax. His special ability to talk to snakes, which has been key to the plot up to this point, also does not come into play except to get him into the Chamber. Harry's emotional journey has not led him to a violent place, so his decision to kill another creature in a bloody and brutal fashion has no emotional significance to him. The Basilisk doesn't even bear Harry any ill-will, it's just attacking people because Voldemort told it to. The killing of the Basilisk is unprecedented, and would not be any more expected or meaningful if it happened at the beginning of the book than it is at the end.

I would argue that this is a problem, story-wise. The climax of a story should have something to do with the events leading up to it. The hero should use the lessons of the preceding parts of the story to overcome the challenge. This from a genuinely talented author, mind you, so my point is that this is an easy mistake to make.

It's also a really common mistake. Most action-packed climaxes in most stories are like this. Hollywood movies and genre novels love to end on some kind of violent action. It's widely understood that the end of a story is supposed to have a climax, so a lot of writers will put an action scene at the end of their story without connecting it to the rest of the plot in a thematic or emotional way.

If you make this mistake in a LitRPG, it's extremely obvious. If Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a LitRPG, then the fact that Harry never kills anything with a melee weapon until the climax would be a glaring plot hole that could not be overlooked. Either JK would have to include a bunch of scenes in which Harry chops the heads off various other magical creatures, or she would have to reconsider how the Basilisk dies.

But now that Harry has to kill a bunch of other magical creatures with a magic sword, we're forced to consider the thematic implications of that. One way or another, Harry is now the kind of person who kills magical beasts with swords, which means the killing Basilisk is now forced by the constraints of the genre to become the conclusion of a long series of thematically related events.

The repetition inherent in a LitRPG forces the author to have recurring themes and to tie those themes into the overarching narrative whether they like it or not.

But once you have those recurring themes, once you've confronted them, you might as well convert the story into a better genre. And I say this as someone who likes LitRPGs.

This is all just scratching the surface of the ways LitRPGs force writers to write better. I just picked one example, but I could go on.

For another example, in other action-heavy fiction you will often see situations reverse themselves for no particular reason. The villain is the clear favorite to win the boxing match, presumably because he's a better boxer. But then in a surprise reversal the hero wins instead. In a good story there will be some kind of reason for this reversal (often emotional), but a bad story will just go through the beats because that's what you're supposed to do in this kind of movie. The music will swell, the hero will look up into the camera, and then the hero will win even though nothing has actually changed since we were informed that the villain was the favorite to win.

You literally cannot do this in a LitRPG. The quantification of everything means that something must change between the villain seeming to have the upper hand and the hero's ultimate victory. This doesn't automatically mean something emotionally relevant, but nobody said that all LitRPG is good. The point is that the structure of the narrative prevents you from accidentally skipping this step and papering it over with swelling dramatic music.

LitRPG where the protagonist's game system is very clearly from a game with a 20-minute day-night cycle, and whose gamification of hunger, thirst, and sleep just wreaks havoc on his personal and professional life.

Just kidding, litRPG protagonists don't have personal or professional lives.

[emmawithtwoms]

The Gryffindor Common Room

@wolfstarmicrofic day 25 -879 words

If you were to go to Hogwarts, in any year, you would have a blast. I mean, going to school in a magical castle, where you learn how to fly on brooms, turn cats into tea mugs and defeat your enemies with magic had to be the best thing ever, right?

But little Chris thought that he got into Hogwarts in the luckiest years. You see, Chris was a fifth year Gryffindoor, very excited about anything cool and extraordinary. He loved mischief and chaos, but he also held a genuine love for learning and studying.

So you could imagine how cool his school years must have been, having the Marauders just a couple of years above him, in his same House.

He admired all of them: James Potter, the fierce, sweet, lovesick fool, always top of his class and never afraid to stand up for what was right.

Sirius Black: charming, cool, witty, extremely cool in an effortless way, the best in ancient runes and advanced magic, the first Black in 300 years to be put in Gryffindor, who was proud of being disowned by his family of dark wizards (Did Chris mention how cool he was?).

Peter Pettigrew, who might have seemed the weakest in the group, but who was really a master of theft. He had many little tricks up his sleeves, and he could pass by unnoticed while causing havoc on his path.

And last but not least, Remus Lupin: the kindest and shyest of the group. Always offering help to the younger years, he became a sort of reference point to all his smaller peers. He created a study group to help those in need and would always help the first years who got lost in the immense castle.

And if it wasn't enough, he was also effortlessly handsome, with his lanky limbs, his shyness, his love for books, his mysterious aura given by his scars, his slightly oversized ears, crooked nose and hazel eyes.

Chris might have had the slightest crush on him, but who could blame him? He found himself countless times on the receiving end of Remus' unconditional help, always with a kind smile on his lips.

Sadly, he resigned himself and accepted the fact that his love was unrequited: Remus would have never liked him back, a guy like him surely had a line of girls hoping to date him (he also overheard two of his classmates making some lewd comments on his bum).

And, if it wasn't enough, there was no way that Remus Lupin was gay.

So he was content just observing him while they were studying together in the Gryffindor common room, Remus was helping him revise for his O.W.L.s while repeating for his N.E.W.T.s. They had been working silently in the common room for the past couple of hours, when they were interrupted by none other than Sirius Black, who was giddier than ever.

"Moonyyyy, there you were. I've been looking everywhere for you! Hey Chris, still revising for the O.W.L.s?"

How in the bloody hell did Sirius Black know his name???? He could barely nod with his wide eyes at the surprise, and Sirius flashed him a toothy grin in return, while placing his arms on top of Remus' chair.

"Hi Pads." Remus lifted his head and smiled at his friend, his smile particularly soft, Chris noticed.

"Yeah, we are almost done for the day, just another hour just to make sure."

"Another hour?? But you've been here for the whole afternoon! It's almost dinner and I've barely seen you!"

"Oh how will you survive this loss, Padfoot?"

"I will not, my Moony, my heart will not resist another second without being soothed by your company. You will kill me, Moons."

Chris was enraptured by this exchange, he could not tear his eyes away. It was weird seeing Remus indulging in this kind of childish behaviour, but the older boy just kept smiling and looking at Sirius like he was painting the Mona Lisa.

"Come on Pads, I'll need just a little more. We cannot all pass our exams without opening our books, you know?"

"Oh come on! You are already competing for the Swot Cup with Evans. Slacking off for one evening will not ruin your records!"

"I said no, Pads, I really need to finish this, I'll join you later."

At that Remus looked back at his book, and Chris thought that the odd exchange was over. But then he noticed a weird glint in Sirius' grey eyes. The black haired boy lowered his face to be at Remus' year level and whispered something. Something that made Remus get redder and redder. When Remus stood up, Sirius grinned like he just won the Quidditch cup, with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Uhm- yeah. Ok, yeah Pads, you're right, I think we've done enough for today, eh Chris? Let's just... yeah, see you!"

Remus barely collected all of his things before following Sirius up the stairs, leaving Chris alone and wondering. Just as he was about to turn his head back on his books, he swore he saw Remus linking his pinky with Sirius.

Oh.

OH!

"Well, Remus definitely does not aim low, huh?"

A.N: Yes, Chris is definitely Christopher from ATYD, I just love him so much

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Does a bad ending ruin a good story? A comprehensive guide to my feelings on the Arcane finale

*Spoilers for Arcane season 2*

So. You just finished the show, and you're staring at the screen in bewilderment. Perhaps you’re even with some friends, shouting words of confusion to the rolling credits. Try as you might, you can barely hear them, because a single thought echoes in your mind and pushes away any other:

“What the fuck just happened?”

If this happened to you, then boy oh boy, we're on the same boat. If it didn't, well, I'm glad for you friend! We might not have been looking for the same things from this story. But this is my post, meaning I will give my opinions (which are objectively correct because this is my blog and I'm the mayor here) on everything that Arcane broke and failed to deliver in its last 2 episodes.

Let's start with characters, and why none of it mattered.

Jinx symbolized the fear we all have of not belonging somewhere, of not having anything to call home or anyone to call a family. Her anger stemmed from wanting to carve a place in a society and a world that had so harshly rejected her (i.e., Vi leaving her). Her existence was a huge middle finger to all that refused to let her live, a fight to build herself something wholeheartedly hers (hence her being an inventor). It was proof that despite the world telling her she was better off dead, she would never stop fighting to prove it wrong.

… and she died.

She died, and that means all the suffering she went through to exist simply amounted to nothing. She left nothing behind either, no trace of a legacy, something that would have left her mark on that world. Isha, the child she raised as a daughter, died. Silco, who she taught love and care to, died. Vander, who she brought back from years of trauma and torture, died. Jinx fought so hard to live, and in the end, it was as if she hadn't lived at all.

Viktor is most certainly the character that made me the angriest, because of how attached I am to the person he is in season 1 (and even the first two acts of season 2 to an extent). Everything that made him so beautifully complex… gone, in about 10 minutes. There was NO reason to make him the surprise ultimate villain. Viktor had always, always been a pacificist. That's why he was so adamant Hextech not be used as a weapon. That's why every time there were chances to test hextech to hurt, he tried to learn how it could heal. Yes, his fusion with the hexcore had changed him; but NOT into a man who didn't care for human life. He wanted to help all the hurt done to his people. People like him, living day to day in the undercity, but who had never gotten a chance to crawl out of their hell. His community was about HEALING, not controlling. The very IDEA that he would accept killing innocents and ally with Noxus, the warmongers, is so ridiculous I could genuinely laugh if it didn't make me so angry. The show needed an easy, black-and-white showdown to conclude a story that would have needed so much more time to tell. And they chose Viktor. Because it was the easy way out. It was the perfect foil to the return of the Golden Boy. And that PISSES me off.

There is this really shitty concept in popular media that the handicapped/chronically ill character is always in the pursuit of being “cured” and that they need outside help to realize “that their imperfections make them perfect”. Fuck. You. As someone with chronic illness and who just finished beating blood cancer, fuck you. That realization, that you're you with every part of your being, even the ‘bad’ ones, cannot come from outside. It's YOU who needs to learn it. It's you who needs to discover how your body and your mind are so much stronger than you previously thought them to be. Not your lover, your family, your friends, or God forbid your able-bodied lab partner. You. Others may tell you as many times as they want your illness doesn't define you; it won't matter until you, yourself, have understood why and have accepted it. Having someone swoop in and “fix” Viktor with a “you don't have to change uwu” is just….. so reductive I can barely find the words for it. That was VIKTOR’S path to find, and not Jayce’s role to find it for him.

Also… Viktor wasn't trying to ‘fix’ his leg; he was trying to find a cure to a deadly illness ravaging his body and no doubt the bodies of many in Zaun. The HELL is the message here??? That he should have just rolled with it because the deadly illness was part of him??? Again, as a cancer survivor. Fuck right off.

Of course, I can't just ignore the hideous get-up they put him in at the end. The man who laughed at Jayce's narcissism….you want me to believe… he would put on that fucking edge lord costume and not DIE of embarrassment??? The design makes no sense from a narrative standpoint either: if his cane has become the sceptre, why is he still keeping it? He doesn't need it anymore to walk, and it's a reminder of his weaknesses as a human that he apparently hated so much. Why the hell does he keep it then? And the hexclaw. Where did that bad boy come out from?? Did you all see a secret extra bonus scene where he steals it from the lab, because I sure didn't. It doesn't add anything to his sets of powers either it’s… it's a fucking laser gun. WHY. And oh sweet god that mask… there would have been so many ways of designing a mask more meaningful than the one from LoL. This one is just. A piece of metal he spawned in embryo. Get it? Because he's made of metal now and also hiding his face means no more humanity? Get it?? Of fucking course you do, because this was the easiest and worst possible way they could have integrated the mask.

Viktor and Jayce had a fantastic dynamic in that Viktor had started out as the loner, the underdog scientist from the slums; while Jayce was the leader figure, living in comfort that made him attachingly naive, his face plastered on posters stroking his ego. The shift is delightfully slow, as Viktor gains in confidence and determination to see his invention through no matter what, while Jayce is confronted with harsher and harsher truths about the world he so blissfully ignored. By Act 2, they have fully switched roles: Viktor is now the leader figure, a symbol of the future for the people, while Jayce is desperately alone, both physically in the hexcore anomaly, and mentally in being the only one who has seen the devastating future. Excellent stuff. What would be a great way to push these parallels further and to show the complexity of these characters, and perhaps how they can balance each other out? Well, Fortiche sure didn't know, now Viktor is the bad bad guy and Jayce is mister hero. Zaun bad, Piltover good. All nuance, gone. Proving that indeed, the man from poverty and inequality turns out evil, while the one from comfort and wealth turns out to be the hero of the story. The whole “giving a warm speech to the bad villain about how you care for them, somehow immediately changing their ways, and dying together to save the world” can work well in shounen anime where friendship is magic, or in the Ben 10 live-action movie (yes, that's the plot, I thought that wasn't deep when I was like 7 years old so imagine now), but not in a show like Arcane. Not with the ethical and moral nuances they have accustomed us to.

And now, let's explore...

Plotholes and incomplete storylines galore.

Ekko’s tree and the contamination of Zaun from Piltover? Fuck that. The huge showdown between the two opposite yet sister cities, like Jinx and Vi, that has been built up for two seasons? Fuck that. And for what?

For the Noxus sequel teaser.

Mel’s plotline about finding her mage origins had NOTHING to do with the main plot. Absolutely nothing. It added 0 twists or intrigues to the story, and served no purpose except making her a deus ex machina for a broken ending. All it was there for was to lay the base for a following show on Noxus and the Black Rose. Time that could have been spent either giving Mel a proper arc related to the plot, or giving all the other rushed character arcs more development.

Finally, and I deeply regret having to say this, but… the end of Vi and Cait's relationship was majorly disappointing to me. As an LGBTQ+ person myself, who feels attraction to women, it was a delight to have such a realistically portrayed w/w relationship on screen. Popular media tends to portray m/m relationships as these doomed, sinful feelings between two repressed guys, while w/w relationships are shown to just be all sunshine and rainbows and teddy bears, because two women together are a cute little accessory to have on screen. It’s non-threatening. But not Cait and Vi; their bond was raw, and rocky, with violent lows and passionate highs in a world that seemed to want to keep them apart. Their separation and the introduction of Maddie showed the reality of a w/w relationship, where fights and cheating ARE things that happen, because they're two adult women with different beliefs, objectives, an trauma. Putting them back together, as if nothing had happened, without giving us anything about how their relationship would have evolved from the breakup? I'd never thought I'd say this, but it's too easy. How about Caitlyn's literal descent into fascism??? We’ll just ignore that? Vi will just ignore that?

As with everything else, this last part of Arcane destroys all the complex emotions that exist between these characters, the resentment, the anger, the frustration, built upon years of different social conditioning… gone. Because they had 2 episodes left to wrap it up, and there was no way to make a coherent and natural transition to them getting back together with that kind of time. And can I just say. The decision to have Vi, symbol of Zaun, go down on Caitlyn, symbol of Piltover and enforcers, in a prison cell that has held innocent Zaunites and represents their complete lack of freedom as individuals by a cop state that oppresses them….. yeah, bad. So bad.

And… the multiverse. Yup, they went the multiverse route. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing: the concept of multiverses itself is interesting in a vacuum, and quite a few properties have managed to make it work coherently. But it has been terribly overused and bastardized in serialized content in the last few years, for the simple reason that it's extremely practical. Why make a new, original series when you already have worlds and characters that are developed, and come with built-in fans? It's a money-saving hack! Why dedicate yourself to an ending that is meaningful in its finality and wraps the story properly when you can just say “It's just one ending in the multiverse!”. It takes away any accountability to the fans, and leaves the door open to a potential other version of the story! The perfect combo!

…except in practice, it comes off as lazy in a medium where that trope is overly saturated (don't start me on Marvel), and like a cowardly way of escaping from the responsibility of really taking the time to craft a good, solid ending to end your story.

So, with all that said: does it ruin Arcane for me? No, absolutely not, and I don’t think it should be for you either. The intricate artistry and raw talent that went into making the first season (and I would say a majority of the two first acts of season 2) is undeniable, and will stay undeniable. Nothing can touch that story. It will forever be one of my favourite pieces of animated media, which is saying a lot because I'm currently getting my master's degree on that topic.

However, it does give Arcane, as a whole rather than two separate seasons/entities, a very bittersweet feeling that is hard to forget. Thinking of what could have been, just if a little more time had been given to the minds behind the masterpiece you so loved… it's its own form of heartbreak. Academics have even compared it to experiencing a form of death of a loved one, before they ever got to reach their fullest potential and live the life they deserved. It may sound dramatic, but the feelings you feel in this moment, watching the horrible end of a fiction you have so much love for, are real. No one can take those away from you. You're allowed to grieve the loss of something that meant a lot to you.

Tldr; No, Arcane is not a bad series because of its rushed and incomprehensible ending. As they say, it's all about the journey, not the destination, even if that's one of the parts we tend to remember the most. And I don't know about you, but this was one of the best journeys I've ever been on.

[sqh3e]

Astray, Kim Woon-hak !

synopsis : you catch yourself slowly but surely falling back in-love with your ex, the break up was mutual neither one of you was toxic or just flat out a horrible partner in the relationship. maybe rekindling that won’t hurt…

genre : exes to lovers, fluff, a little angst (lmk if i forgot something)

pairing : bf!woonhak x reader

𐙚 word count : 1.8k

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you and woonhak have been broken up for about 7 months now, you took it surprisingly well. no one cheated or anything the break up was mutual you both felt as though you were in two different places at the time.

over the course of 7 months you found some new hobbies and really started to learn to enjoy your own company. one hobby in particular you loved was skateboarding. you liked the thrill and excitement you got from putting the board on the ground and riding through the skate park with it.

anytime you had free time you spent it at the skate park, one day you really really wanted to try this new trick you saw on tiktok the fact it was on tiktok you knew you shouldn’t try it out, but you liked the thrill.

it was about 7pm the sun was setting and you’d been at the skate park all day. you finally decided to try out the trick, no one was around so if you fell no one would see you.

the trick was call a Grind. meaning you slide the board along a surface, not necessarily the board the trucks of the board.

you could already jump and spin the board and land perfectly, so you did that a few times to warm up. but then you heard someone clap whixh startled you and you lost your balance on your board falling but you caught the fall with your hands.

“are you okay? did i scare you?” a familiar voice spoke as they helped you up from the ground.

“woonhak?” you asked before looking up. and behold there was woonhak smiling at you, despite living in the same neighborhood you haven’t seen him in 7 months probably cause you spent your free time here.

“yea it’s me y/n” he helped you to your knees. you both stand there making direct eye contact, he looks away and scratch the back of his neck nervously chuckling.

“so uh, how have you been?” “what are you doing here?” you both spoke at the same time causing you both to laugh.

“well i’ve been good, it’s been awhile woonhak. surprised to see you here.” you said making him look back at you.

“are you really surprised to see me? this was my home for the longest.” he laughed.

and just like that you’re busted, you spent the last 7 months going to the skate park and any chance you got just so you could possibly run into woonhak. but of course he couldn’t know that.

“yea..” you let out an awkward laugh, he picks up on it and smiles at you. “you asked what i’m doing here,” he showed you his board “i haven’t been here since we broke up, something told me to come here today so here i am.” he spoke you caught a hint of genuine in his voice.

you knew the part about him not coming since you both broke up was somewhat true since you’d been coming here everyday since you both broke up. a part of you felt like he wasn’t necessarily telling the truth about why he actually came.

he placed his board on the ground and kicked off, “let’s see if you can keep up.” he laughed as he got further and further from you.

your board already being on the ground you placed your left foot on the board and kicked off, “hey! no fair” you said laughing.

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an hour passed by and you both are still at the skate park. “y/n,” woonhak said your name causing you to look up at him “genuinely what prompted you to start skating? was it another guy…?” he mumbled that last part and it caused your face to form a small smile.

“only if you tell me what you’re really doing here.” you replied, “fine, i’ll walk you home and we can catch up.” he said getting up off the ground reaching his hand out to help you up.

you missed this, you kind of forgot how much of a gentleman he was… you felt butterflies in your stomach. you took his hand and let him help you.

“you live closer do you really want to walk with me? we could just-“ he cut you off “i insist.” he said. you nodded and started dusting the dust and dirt off your pants.

“alright let’s go!” you said placing your left foot on your board and slightly kicking off with your right foot, he walked beside you as you slowly skate on your board.

“soo…” you said breaking the silence. “well what do you wanna know? the floor is yours.” he replied.

“i still want to know why you were at the park today, but i’ll save that for later.” you said.

“how have you been though? hopefully good.” you added. “actually i took the break up pretty hard which is why i stopped going to the skate park.” he says, you placed your right foot in the ground to stop your skating.

he noticed and he stopped walking, he turned around and slightly tilted his head at you.

“you took the break up hard?” you asked, “now i feel bad because i didn’t take it bad…” you added.

but i think you did take it bad without realizing, you went to the skate park almost everyday hoping you’d run into woonhak, the reason you learned to skate was so that you could impress him.

you looked down to the ground your foot fidgeting with your board.

“hey…” he walked back towards you, “don’t feel bad everyone takes things differently,” he explained. “i’m actually relieved you took it well, i would’ve stressed if you hadn’t.” he added.

“woonhak,” you spoke still looking at the ground, “did you think of me? at least once or twice…?” now you were fidgeting with your hands.

you don’t know why you were so nervous it’s just woonhak, you haven’t felt like this sense you and woonhak first met… i mean of course he made you shy when you were together but you soon got comfortable around him, felt like you were back at square one. you like this feeling.

“y/n, i thought of you everyday… still thinking of you now,” he expressed, “i missed you.”

you smile hearing his words suddenly you were so giddy, you didn’t want to make it obvious but it was already so obvious you missed him as well.

“i missed you too woonhak.” you whispered and smiled to yourself.

“i needed to hear that.” he spoke grabbing your board off the ground carrying it in his right arm with his board. he reached his left hand out to grab yours. you hesitated, but he grabbed it anyway.

you both walked hand in hand for a few minutes the silence wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable.

“what did you do for the last 7 months?” you spoke breaking the silence.

“school and that’s about it, you?” he asked, “school and in my free time the skate park, i see why you spent alot of time there. it’s peaceful just you and the sound of the board on the ground.” you trail off realizing how cringe that might’ve sounded.

he lets out a light chuckle before speaking “you know the real reason i went to the skate park today was because your mom told me you we’re there.”

“huh my mom? why’d she tell you that?” you asked sounding confused. he stopped walking, but you kept walking you stopped and turned around after realizing he stopped cause his arm pulled you back.

“because i went to your house in hopes of seeing you,” he trailed off.

you stood there for awhile then you walked up to him, he continued “i acted off impulse, i really wanted to see you but didn’t know if i should call or stop by… so i just stopped by. and that’s when your mom told me you were at the skate park.” he spoke, he looked in your eyes searching for an answer or something.

you look into his eyes seeing a hint of vulnerability, “woonhak…” you gently grabbed his face with your free hand.

“i have a confession, i only learned how to skate because i wanted to impress you… i thought that if maybe you saw me on my board you would think i’m cool.” you chuckled.

“i wanted us to have something in common i learned how to skate for you but ended up actually falling in love with it.” you added, he put his board on the ground upside down and did the same with yours.

“seeing you on your skate board only made me fall more inlove with you than i already am.” your eyes widen at his response.

“i-inlove..?” you stutter trying to process what you just heard.

he loves you? prior to breaking up you two were only together for 4 months you didn’t even hit the “i love you” stage yet. you were taken aback.

“yes y/n, i am inlove with you more than you know more than i can put into words.”

“i never wanted to break up, i wanted to stay together but because that was your choice i just agreed.” he trailed off “y/n you don’t understand how much i love you, and neither do i… which probably why i agreed to break up, all this is new to me and i was scared.” he confessed.

he grabbed your hand that was cuffed on his face holding onto it.

“woonhak, why wouldn’t you just communicate this with me you dummy!?” your eyes start watering. he notices and pulls you into a hug using the hand that was holding your hand.

he wrapped his arms around your waist and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“i would’ve told you i love you more.” you confessed but it was muffled due to your head being buried in his chest, “everyday without you was dreadful, i missed your scent, your smile, your laugh. i just missed you as a whole.” he kissed your forehead.

“y/n,” he pulled away still holding onto your waist, before you could answer him he cupped your face looking directly into your eyes, this was it you were about to have your first kiss.

you pull away, analyzing his face before pulling him back into the kiss.

after the kiss he mumbled the words “i love you, always have y/n.” and your face goes red… “so cute.”

he put his arm around your shoulder pulling you close to him and you both continued to walk home.

until you realize you left your boards, “woonhak silly you left the boards.” he turned around and laughed, he jogged back and grabbed them before placing his arm around your shoulder again. and you both walked down the quiet neighborhood laughing.

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authors notes : i hope you all enjoyed this short woonhak story lol, i was up late last night and proof read it this morning. please excuse any errors if there are any. don’t know how i feel about this story but i definitely had fun writing it, i hope everyone has/had a great day !

perm taglist (open) : requests (open) !

[leona-hawthorne]

hiii, i’m hannah! congrats on 1k! i love your writing you totally deserve it❤️❤️

i’d like to order an herbal tea please ma’am. my fav hogwarts class is potions and i’m a slytherin.

thanks soooo much!!

thank you ml!!! i hope you like this 💌🤍

1k celebration navigation latte art

ミ★ THANKS?… mattheo riddle

The air was thick with the earthy tang of crushed herbs and a faint hint of smoke, remnants of a botched potion someone had abandoned earlier. You leaned over your cauldron, carefully adding a pinch of powdered asphodel, watching the mixture swirl into a soft, luminescent green. Professor Slughorn had excused everyone twenty minutes ago, but you stayed behind to perfect the Draught of Living Death. It wasn’t just about the grade—it was the principle. You had a reputation in Potions to maintain.  

From the corner of your eye, you caught movement by the supply cupboard. Turning slightly, you noticed Mattheo Riddle. He was crouched down, rifling through jars and bottles with a carelessness that made you wince. A faint scowl tugged at your lips as he grabbed a jar, inspected it for half a second, and then tossed it back onto the shelf with a dull clink.

“You know, smashing Slughorn’s ingredients probably won’t get you out of homework,” you quipped without looking up from your cauldron.  

“Homework?” His voice came smooth and low, like the first sip of spiked butterbeer. “Do I look like someone who’s worried about homework?”  

You rolled your eyes, glancing at him. His tie was nowhere to be found, his shirt untucked with the sleeves pushed up to reveal ink-stained forearms. He stood, holding a vial of unicorn horn dust like he’d found some priceless artifact, and smirked when he caught your gaze.  

“Well, you’re clearly worried about something,” you said, gesturing vaguely at the mess he was leaving behind. “Unless this is just your idea of helping.”  

Mattheo wandered over to your table, lazily swirling the vial between his fingers. “Helping isn’t really my thing,” he admitted, leaning against the edge of your workspace. “But I am curious—what’s got you brewing that after hours? A little light poison-making for fun?”  

“It’s for the Draught of Living Death,” you said, turning back to your cauldron. “And if you don’t stop distracting me, I’m going to need it for myself.”  

“Touché.” He chuckled, setting the vial down on the table with an unnecessary flourish. “But, for the record, you’re stirring it wrong.”  

You froze, narrowing your eyes. “Excuse me?”  

“Clockwise, not counterclockwise,” he said, arms folded smugly. “Slughorn’s book is wrong about the order. If you stir it counterclockwise now, the powdered asphodel reacts too quickly with the valerian root. Your potion will split before it settles.”  

You stared at him, torn between annoyance and genuine intrigue. “And you know this… how?”  

He shrugged, a cocky tilt to his head. “Let’s just say I’ve had some practice.”  

“You? Practice?” You couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped you. “What’s next? You’re secretly top of the class?”  

“Hardly,” he said, grinning. “I’m just very… hands-on with my learning.”  

There was a flicker of something genuine in his tone, enough to make you hesitate. Against your better judgment, you switched your stirring direction, watching as the potion’s surface rippled and settled into a perfect, glassy stillness.  

“Well, would you look at that,” you muttered, begrudgingly impressed.  

“Don’t look so surprised.” His voice was teasing, but his smile was softer now. “I can be helpful when I want to be.”  

“Guess there’s a first time for everything,” you said, turning to meet his gaze.  

He was closer now, his dark curls falling haphazardly into his eyes as he watched you with a mixture of amusement and something else—something quieter. For a moment, the usual sharp edges of his presence seemed to soften, and you felt an unexpected warmth creeping up your neck.  

“Thanks, Riddle,” you said, fighting the stupid smile finding its way onto your lips.

He winked. “Call me Mattheo.”

[soliloquent-stark]

Hi, would you have any baby's first Stony fic recs for a stucky shipper?? Like I want to read Stony but literally have no idea where to start or how to get there without feeling like "wait, where's Bucky?" if that makes any sense

Tysmia!!

hi! congrats and welcome :) i want you to know i am taking this task very seriously! i am a big bucky lover so i don't read bucky bashing fics anyways, so pretty much any rec of mine is okay from that sense, but i understand the difficulty in switching ships or having your fav absent.

so, i thought the best way to get acquainted with stevetony would be to read fics that contain bucky, or past stucky, or focus on learning about tony from steve's pov (since i assume you're most familiar with his perspective and character, so then you can fall in love with tony together). i also added some stuckony ones in case that's your cup of tea, but feel free to skip those. 💕

ps. almost all these are mcu, but let me know if you want comics/au recs too. but overall, for more recs, you can check this tag.

music by @treesramblings

Steve turns seventy-five today. Tony has a special plan in place to show Steve a happy birthday.

I used to use liquor to get me inspired (but you look so beautiful) by @underwhelmingalchemist

Steve was used to Tony's flirting. It was weird and slightly annoying, but it was just part of who he was. It was always surface-level compliments, comments on his ass and thighs, teasing him about his "pretty face". But when he was drunk, those comments turned to something sweeter and much more genuine.

more after the cut

Triple Espresso by @festiveferret

Everything is going great for Steve. He loves his boyfriend, his apartment, his pets. He finally has some opportunities to share his artwork, the coffee shop he manages is doing well, and Bucky is about to finish his exams, which means no more night shifts. It finally feels like life is on track. And then Tony Stark walks into the cafe and everything goes off the rails.

5 Times Bucky Thought Tony Was Good For Steve +1 Time He Told Him by Anonymous

To say Bucky is unimpressed by Stark would be an understatement. It isn’t that he dislikes him. It’s more that he’s a brand of indifferent that curdles with disdain on the rare occasion that Bucky catches him on the TV: Stark is glib and crass in a way his father never was, and he wears suits like he’d slipped out of the womb clad in Armani. So it’s a surprise when Bucky moves into the Tower and finds that Steve actually gets along with the guy.

some words build houses in your throat by only_more_love

The night before they travel back in time, Tony says what he needs to say.

A Partial Dictionary Of The 21st Century By Captain Steve Rogers, US Army by @copperbadge

Steve is adapting well to the new millennium, and he has the dictionary to prove it.

Equilateral by FestiveFerret

It was the way Steve had said, “I found him,” the desperate, agonized hope, that had Tony replying with, “Bring him home,” without any hesitation. But now, now he was hesitating like fuck.

felt with your two hands by @ishipallthings

Steve lets out an exasperated huff. “It’s just, I can’t shave.” It’s such a small thing to be upset about, and yet here he is, fighting the urge to tear his bandages just to look clean-shaven again. One glance at Tony shows that he’s surprised by Steve’s admission, eyes now fixed on the days-old scruff covering the bottom half of Steve’s face. (In which Tony helps Steve with shaving, and the close proximity leads to so much more than either of them anticipated.)

Feels Like Home by @tinystark616

Steve thinks there must be something fundamentally wrong with him when adjusting to his new life seems scarier than fighting an army of aliens. He knows how to fight. He's excellent at it. What he doesn't know is how to feel like he belongs in the future.

Catching Up Fast by Catchclaw, Crowgirl

Tony doesn't see the other guy coming, is the thing. Best mistake of his life.

everybody needs some affection by @meidui

It's for Steve's sake, Tony tells himself as he befriends Bucky. (But then it isn't.)

last call by @gottalovev

Tony didn’t prepare for Steve calling first. It's been thirteen months, why now?

Operation: Knuckleheads by FestiveFerret

Bucky is enjoying his new, post-Winter Soldier life at Avengers Tower, until he discovers that the constant tension between Steve and Tony was caused by a recent (and mysterious) breakup. Determined to make his friends happy, Bucky gives himself a new mission: figure out what went wrong, and get these two idiots in love back together again.

[thegeminisage]

lucanis/rook good. lucanis/neve good. lucanis/davrin DEFINITELY good. but i think we are sleeping on lucanis/harding. here's a link to some of their banter, though i'm not sure it's everything in the game.

harding starts the game casually threatening lucanis (like davrin) with her very fancy demon-killing arrow. and yet, aside from the one line where he points out that she only has the ONE arrow, instead of getting bitchy with her the way he does with davrin, lucanis seems to respect her bravery. he notes in another cutscene (i'll get to it later) that her being so small physically might have made it easier for other people to intimidate her when she was young, so it's possibly he was making incorrect assumptions about her based on her size and easy-going nature, and is surprised to find she's made out of pretty tough stuff after all, despite of those things

she then throws him totally off-guard by assuring him she isn't brave at all, but terrified of him (or spite), and she knows that if he does lose control, it won't even be his fault - but she'll put him down no matter how scared she is. lucanis's reaction to this is to first try to laugh it off as brutal honesty, and then grow sober and TELL HER TO KEEP HER BOW CLOSE? one little shred of sympathy and kindness totally obliterated whatever combative sarcasm he was gearing up to give her with that "only one arrow" business.

later, lucanis urges her to watch their enemies rather than him - he's genuinely concerned that she's so scared of him and distracted by him she's going to get herself hurt.

lucanis, who canonically doesn't sleep and gets lots of bad dreams, talks through all of harding's dreams with her - from the silly and mundane to the genuinely terrifying - and goes out of his way to buy her spearmint to help with her nightmares. like he cares SO MUCH

after weisshaupt (on my playthrough, anyway) we learn that harding has since GIVEN her demon-killing arrow to him to prove to him she trusts him, and he wants to give it back to prove that he trusts her. it's genuinely very sweet

also after weisshaupt, harding comforts lucanis and tries to get him to stop torturing himself over his missed shot at ghilan'nain. she's not alone in doing this, but it's still good

COFFEE SCENE. not only does this scene prove lucanis pays close attention to harding, he looks at her with so much fondness here...and after this scene, their party banter involves her working through what he's pointed out about her. his dialogue implies that she shouldn't change to appease other people - because he cares about her well-being AND because he thinks she's great just the way she is.

NOT ONLY THAT, but harding realizes lucanis's evaluation was so keen because he himself is a little bit of a people-pleaser - and with that observation, once again manages to catch him off-guard. she surprises him throughout their relationship

one of my favorite bits with them is comparing notes on their various magical situations. both of them are firmly non-mages who have been unwillingly saddled with magical or magic-adjacent abilities. lucanis is the first to figure out why constantly using magic always makes her hungry (from experience) and he can also relate to being completely freaked out the first time her magical abilities manifested.

near the end of the game, lucanis admits that harding's reputation with the bow is more than earned, and even expresses interest in working with her in the future, after the war against the gods has ended, for an absurd amount of coin. i've seen people point to this banter as proof that lucanis doesn't know the value of money ("it's a banana, michael, how much could it cost? ten dollars?"), but he does his own shopping - he absolutely does know the value of money, he just ALSO places a high value on harding's skills and trustworthiness. i would dare to venture he is smitten!

also, this. OWWW MY HEART

[icecoldbitchbird]

There was a look of genuine, unmasked, surprise within Andrealphus’ eyes as the Prince laughed at his words. It wasn’t one of those polite, manufactures, laughs that were so commonly traded between Goetia — It was genuine.

It was, admittedly, unnerving to have so much of Vassago’s attention unwaveringly on him. It wasn’t that the peacock wasn’t accustomed to attention. Rather the contrary, Andrealphus was proud of his ability to turn heads by merely gliding into a room. However, that attention was superficial, an appreciation of beauty that cared not to unravel the man behind the icy gaze. Vassago had this uncanny ability to see more than what Andrealphus was trying to project.

“…since I was a old enough to reach the keys,” he noted after a brief moment of silence, unable and unwilling to place a specific number of years to his statement. He’d been sat at a piano for as long as he could remember — his mother had insisted in him being trained in all manner of attractive skills. Which would have been pleasant had these lessons not also come with the crushing weight of being the best in everything he set his mind to. “Mother insisted I learn and it stuck with me, I suppose…I see music much like mathematics,” he explained, “…there is a code, a secret language of symbols to crack, and there are processes that must be followed in order to achieve success…only, with music, there is a pleasant sound when you get the answer correct.”

“All manner of things,” was the simple reply that Andrealphus offered regarding his painting. Truth be told, there wasn’t a lot of could say without bearing too much of himself — To Andrealphus, painting was almost a rebellious act. He was a terrible painter. Always had been. The freeing feeling of doing something, knowing it was imperfect, but doing it all the same. It was almost as soothing as the repetitive stoke of paintbrush against canvas.

“But tell me, Vassago�� he began in an attempt to steer the conversation firmly away from himself, “What do you do for fun?”

starter for the lovely @vassago-rp

The soft, demonic, glow of turquoise eyes reflected back at Andrealphus from the crystalline windows of his snow-covered mansion. An appreciative chirping trill hummed in his throat as he inspected his appearance — the substantial amount of time the marquis had spent preening in front of the mirror that morning had clearly paid off. There wasn’t a single feather out of place on his body. To others, his immaculate appearance was a sign of of his unconcealed vanity. Just the pompous theatrics of an attention hungry peacock. To Andrealphus, applying a delicate, subtle, swipe of eyeliner or adorning his body in luxurious silks and precious gems was the same as applying war paint and battle armour. Truth is, the bird would sooner be caught dead than poorly dressed. It was a power move. A weapon that could be weirded on the social battlefield. The icy-cold avian had found that social meetings were little more than a vicious battlefield, disguised as civility. The simple truth of the matter was that any minor misstep could damage your reputation — and there was nothing more important to most goetia than their reputation.

Thanks to his brain dead sister and her, tragically beautiful, bastard of a husband their reputation had been…on thin ice, so to speak. As the only member of his family who seemed capable of successfully utilising his intellect, it’d soon become his responsibility to oversee damage control. It was laborious. More than ever, the need to be perfect had began to weigh heavy as the diamond-encrusted tiara that sat atop his head.

The sound of the door handle squeaking softly snapped Andrealphus out of his thoughts — what an unpleasant noise. He really ought to get that damn thing replaced! The door swept open to reveal his guest of honour, Prince Vassago. The impish butler that had led the prince to the room bowed deeply before closing the door behind Vassago and fleeing to ready the tea. “Your majesty, I’m so glad you could make it~” there was a light-hearted ease within his words, the peacock bowing a little in a gesture of respect. Andrealphus then took a moment to allowed his eyes to linger on the prince’s appearance, the brilliant red feathers of the other man were vibrant against the backdrop of snow and ice. With a delicate sweep of his hand, Andrealphus gestured towards the table, two impish servants scurried to pull out chairs for both of the men, “Please, take a seat.”

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

"I'm never going to be free of that man I've never spoken to or even seen on my dash, am I?" I'm not even involved in this but idk why you don't just say what a stupid shit he is like youd do with any moid you came across. you respond to peoples opinions on dumb posts all the time but for some reason you seem to want to defend this idiot.

...because I come across them. Because there they are, in front of my face doing man things and I comment. For some reason you and whoever else* specifically want my attention on this particular one. Which, someone said a little while ago they like the way I explain things and that's insanely flattering, sincerely, but I *try* to speak from knowledge and experience to avoid talking out of my ass.

I don't want to put the energy into gaining enough knowledge and experience to speak about this man. He is not a thought in my head until I get yet another ask mentioning him. In the nine years I have been on this hellsite, I don't think I've gotten this many asks about literally anything else. First from people demanding I defend him and then from people encouraging and later demanding that I condemn him.

My cat posts didn't get me this many asks. The story I wrote didn't get me this many asks. Poorly worded earlier posts I've made didn't get me this many asks. Original posts that made their way to the rapist fandom didn't get this many asks. TRAs haven't sent me this many asks.

I don't want to put energy into this male! Tumblr to me is my dashboard and nothing else. I follow 201 people, nearly all of them women to the best of my knowledge, and no tags at all. If someone I don't follow doesn't come up on the posts I see when I'm active, either directly on the posts of people I follow or on the "based on your likes!" I don't see them. They don't exist to me. This male should not exist to me. He doesn't exist to me apart from when you people keep bringing him up. Why you want an extra man to exist in my life is beyond me, especially here. Like I'm sorry that you etcetera are unable to let go of him, but I promise your lives will be better when you do. Pinky promise.

*I don't even know how many people are involved here. Maybe you're all the same damn person. Hell, maybe you're all him! I wouldn't put it past a scrote to do something like this--men do all kinds of shit to get female attention--but fucked if I know. Now, go on! Bring on an anon telling me I'm joining in a smear campaign against him because of those last two sentences. Let's at least vary this up a bit.

[cator99]

out of curiosity, would you consider yourself butch?

used to be a blonde underweight twink and now I'm a based jock still got the chanel bag and the sick albeit matured mind of a suckpig to prove it so I'm gonna let you decide whether you wanna call me that word just cuz I got a pussy and short hair. I promise you that there have been enough advancements made in the art of lesbian sexual dynamics in the past 50 years to broaden the vocabulary used to describe the plethora of types of masculine females.

[thedrotter]

Re:Kinder Fun fact time!! Did you know? 😊

Yuuichi's theme song (the one that often accompanies his entrances with "Vamos Cantar!"), 新しい夏のナナ, is not in any latin language such as Spanish or Portuguese, despite its lyrics sounding as such. It's actually in Hanamogera, which to put it simply is nonsense speech based on japanese syllables. So the song's lyrics are essentially gibberish meant to imitate the sound of latin music! 😊

It is listed as such in the source site for the song, oo39.com, where the song can be found as "YS068" in the hanamogera category.

Additional fun fact! The song can also be found in Spotify as Vien Nana by Oo39.com themselves alongside a few other select songs from the site. So you can properly enjoy the song on the platform without having to import it from your local files.

Those are the fun Re:Kinder related fun facts for today... Use them to entertain your friends at parties ! ☺️

[cuteniaarts]

Behold, my latest and most enamouring new obsession:

Malina, Lady of the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. As if Red Lotus child OCs weren’t niche enough

[afurtivecake]

i love how talking about the actual sports parts in aftg makes me seem like an absolute nerd in the aftg fandom.

[zoya-nazyalenskys]

idk it might be just me but the treviso vs minrathous choice being so early on in the game made me think we were gonna be making more difficult choices like that throughout the rest of the game not that it would be the only one lol

[lesbiansanemi]

I'm so tired

[blue-cat-shitposts]

It’s really fucking hysterical at this point how much I don’t know about my own drawing software.

I mean I've been using Krita for what, five years now? And I'm still learning just how much I don't fucking know about this program and its capabilities. I only discovered it has stabilizers half a year ago. I had to look up a video that showed me what dockers to enable for animation and how to use them. Not to mention the dozens of blending modes which I’m still trying to figure out what exactly they do an how to use them. This program is a marvel of engineering but I’m using like, 5% of it at most. I feel like the Doctor being scolded by River Song about improper use of the TARDIS every time I learn that there's a feature in Krita that makes what I want to do five hundred times easier and more efficient.

There's this one guy on Youtube called David Revoy that has in-depth tutorials specifically about Krita, and I have never felt this indebted to one man’s thankless work before. It’s thanks to him that I learned that something called a coloring mask is even a thing, and it has improved my life DRAMATICALLY ever since I’ve learned about it.

However I do need to watch his videos one at a time with breaks because my brain is being blown with the sheer amount of information in each one. It's just me going "wait you can do WHAT?!" every five seconds for the entirety of the 15-minute video every time.

Every time, every fucking time I’m stuck trying to painstaikingly draw something manually, and then learn about another feature Krita has that’d make the process a thousand times easier and better, it’s basically:

Every FUCKING time